“D--n Homo with all my heart,” says Northerton; “I have the marks of him on my a-- yet. There's Thomas, of our regiment, always carries a Homo in his pocket; d--n me, if ever I come at it, if I don't burn it. And there's Corderius, another d--n'd son of a whore, that hath got me many a flogging.” “Then you have been at school, Mr Northerton?” said the lieutenant. “Ay, d--n me, have I,” answered he; “the devil take my father for sending me thither! The old put wanted to make a parson of me, but d--n me, thinks I to myself, I'll nick you there, old cull; the devil a smack of your nonsense shall you ever get into me. There's Jemmy Oliver, of our regiment, he narrowly escaped being a pimp too, and that would have been a thousand pities; for d--n me if he is not one of the prettiest fellows in the whole world; but he went farther than I with the old cull, for Jimmey can neither write nor read.” “You give your friend a very good character,” said the lieutenant, “and a very deserved one, I dare say. But prithee, Northerton, leave off that foolish as well as wicked custom of swearing; for you are deceived, I promise you, if you think there is wit or politeness in it. I wish, too, you would take my advice, and desist from abusing the clergy. Scandalous names, and reflections cast on any body of men, must be always unjustifiable; but especially so, when thrown on so sacred a function; for to abuse the body is to abuse the function itself; and I leave to you to judge how inconsistent such behaviour is in men who are going to fight in defence of the Protestant religion.” Mr Adderly, which was the name of the other ensign, had sat hitherto kicking his heels and humming a tune, without seeming to listen to the discourse; he now answered, “_O, Monsieur, on ne parle pas de la religion dans la guerre_.”--“Well said, Jack,” cries Northerton: “if _la religion_ was the only matter, the parsons should fight their own battles for me.” “I don't know, gentlemen,” said Jones, “what may be your opinion; but I think no man can engage in a nobler cause than that of his religion; and I have observed, in the little I have read of history, that no soldiers have fought so bravely as those who have been inspired with a religious zeal: for my own part, though I love my king and country, I hope, as well as any man in it, yet the Protestant interest is no small motive to my becoming a volunteer in the cause.” Northerton now winked on Adderly, and whispered to him slily, “Smoke the prig, Adderly, smoke him.” Then turning to Jones, said to him, “I am very glad, sir, you have chosen our regiment to be a volunteer in; for if our parson should at any time take a cup too much, I find you can supply his place. I presume, sir, you have been at the university; may I crave the favour to know what college?” “Sir,” answered Jones, “so far from having been at the university, I have even had the advantage of yourself, for I was never at school.”